07/27/2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Grow It Forward to Relocate Café Operations to Its Community Food Center, Expand Direct Food Access Programs
Local roastery Sobremesa Coffee to take over downtown café space
MANITOWOC, WI — July 27, 2026 — Grow It Forward, a Manitowoc County nonprofit dedicated to food access and food security, today announced it will move Harmony Café from 921 S. 8th Street to the Grow It Forward Community Food Center at 1501 Marshall St., where the café will continue operating as a mission-centric program rather than a stand-alone retail business.
Harmony Café's last day of service at its downtown location will be August 15, 2026. Grow It Forward will then transition the space to Sobremesa Coffee, a local roastery founded by siblings Kristy and Kevin DeLeon, which will operate its own independent coffee shop at the 921 S. 8th Street location. All of Grow It Forward's kitchen equipment and moveable assets will relocate to the Community Food Center, where the café will continue under the Community Food Center as part of the organization's broader food programming. Grow It Forward anticipates the café will reopen at the Community Food Center in September, operating on a limited schedule within the Community Food Center's hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), with specific café hours to be announced. As part of this transition, Grow It Forward also plans to expand the operational days and hours of its food pantry and community meals program.
“Harmony Café has been a wonderful success story for Grow It Forward,” said Amber Daugs, Founder and CEO of Grow It Forward. “It built awareness, brought in volunteers and donors, and connected our community to our mission in a whole new way. Now we're taking that success even further by bringing the café home to our Community Food Center. At 921 S. 8th Street, the cafe operated as a retail business alongside our mission. At the Community Food Center, it becomes part of the mission itself — sharing the same building, kitchen, and team as our pantry, community meals, and food-growing programs. This is the next chapter of something that's already working.”
The café is not closing for good — it is moving to and continuing under the Grow It Forward Community Food Center, 1501 Marshall St., becoming a mission-centric program rather than a stand-alone, mission-adjacent retail business. It is anticipated to reopen in September on a limited schedule within Community Food Center hours, as Grow It Forward also expands the operational days and hours of its food pantry and community meals program.
The transition allows Grow It Forward to consolidate its food production under one roof and dedicate additional staff time and resources to its core charitable programs, including its food pantry, community meals program, culinary and garden education, food processing, and hydroponic farm and community garden. Staff members currently working weekdays in the café operations will be retained through the transition.
Downtown Manitowoc will not lose a café. Sobremesa Coffee's independent, locally owned business will continue to serve the community from the 921 S. 8th Street location under its own model. “We're honored and excited to grow from our cart at the Manitowoc Farmers Market to a new home on 8th Street, serving the community that's supported us from day one,” said Kristy DeLeon, Co-Founder, Sobremesa Coffee.
Grow It Forward's mission is to provide people the opportunity to grow, cook, share, and advocate for good food. Founded in 2014, the organization operates a Community Food Center, hydroponic farm, greenhouse and garden, food pantry, community meals, catering services, and its value-added product line, Grow It Forward Provisions.
For more information, contact Amber Daugs, Founder and CEO, at [email protected], 920-645-9467, or visit grow54220.com.
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